2018/07/03/(Tue)

DHL CARE Awards: three major air carriers distinguished at the Life Science and Healthcare Conference [Integrator]

Lufthansa Cargo & Swiss WorldCargo, Emirates SkyCargo and Cathay Pacific Cargo recognized as industry leaders in transport of temperature-sensitive life sciences products by DHLDHL's own Thermonet air freight service now includes more than 30 IATA CEIV certified network stations for vital medical productsBonn - DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has awarded the 2018 Carrier Award for Reliability and Excellence (CARE) to Lufthansa Cargo & Swiss WorldCargo, Emirates SkyCargo, and Cathay Pacific Cargo. The CARE Awards recognize the industry's top transporters of temperature-sensitive life sciences products. The winners were distinguished at the 18th Life Science and Healthcare Conference held at Lake Maggiore, Italy on June 28, 2018.

"The transport of medical products and medications is an especially demanding undertaking - at DHL, we care about making sure these sensitive products avoid temperature excursions, remain in the right conditions and arrive safely and timely to their patient's hands," said Scott Allison, President, Life Sciences & Healthcare, at DHL. "These are life-saving products, and customers are increasingly demanding faster delivery with a higher level of transparency at the same time. The volume of products is also on the rise, thanks to the growing online pharmaceutical business. Air freight carriers see these challenges as opportunities, responding with increased investments to improve both the quality and visibility of transport."

Recipients of the DHL CARE Award, which was first instituted in 2016, offer exceptional service, quality, ground handling and innovative technologies and processes for their shipments. In the end, the differences in top scores were extremely close, underlining the high level of expertise and service quality provided by the laureates. This year's award was presented by Thomas George, CEO DHL Global Forwarding Europe, at a festive ceremony in the course of the 18th Life Science and Healthcare Conference.

As carriers strive to provide best-in-class services in the life sciences and healthcare sector, they increasingly invest in improvements. Good Distribution Practices (GDP) certifications based on the European Union guidelines on how to best handle medicinal products, as well as the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have increased in the last year.

"What stands out even more this year is the fact that the fundamental service levels of our preferred carrier partners have increased universally while the DHL CARE Award winners managed to score higher on data transparency, extreme ambient temperature avoidance and investment in innovation such as real-time shipment monitoring," said David Bang, CEO LifeConEx/Global Head of DHL Temperature Management Solutions.

With Thermonet, DHL's own temperature controlled air freight service for the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector, the Group delivers regulatory compliance and higher visibility throughout its own international network of GDP-certified life sciences stations for air and ocean freight. DHL began seeking certification for these stations by the IATA CEIV Pharma in 2016. Since then, over 30 stations have been CEIV Pharma certified, following successful employee training courses and third-party audits. DHL provides forward-thinking, intelligent healthcare logistics through a broad, holistic range of patient-centric solutions. With focus on connecting, caring, complying and innovating, DHL delivers excellence to the healthcare industry.